Bangalore: Former Minister H Nagappa was killed in an encounter as per a preliminary
investigation, a top official said on December 12.
Giving a new twist to the macabre killing of Nagappa, a top police official actively
engaged in the investigation, told reporters in Bangalore that Nagappa lost his life
in a gun-battle.
It also emerged today that Nagappa died following a shock as a result of bullet
injury according to the post-mortem report, the official said.
Elaborating on the preliminary investigation, the official said 29 empty
fired cartridges and three spent (misfired) cartridges were recovered near
the spot in Chengadi forest in Chamarajnagar district, where Nagappa's body
was found on December 8.
The official said the tree trunk adjacent to the place where Nagappa's body
was found bore bullet marks.
Asked if he is suggesting that Nagappa was killed by Tamil Nadu Special Task
Force (STF), the official said that Karnataka STF have made it clear that
they were nowhere near the area.
Meanwhile, official sources denied Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J
Jayalalithaa's statement that the recovery of a decomposed body from the
Karnataka side of the forest had been identified as that of a constable of
the Karnataka STF.
"Where is the body ?...no body was found," the sources said.
PTI
